Treasure Hunters: Book of Secrets

Chapter Two: Truth or Lies?

Once the rest of the audience had cleared out of the hall, Doctor Nichols, Ben, Alex, Patrick, and the mysterious man stood on stage examining the diary page. Suddenly it seemed eerily empty in the lecture hall.

"And Latin?" said Doctor Nichols, examining the writing.

"Booth was a student of Latin," explained the man. "He shouted 'Sic semper tyrannis' after he shot Lincoln. 'Thus always to-" he began to translate.

"'Thus always to tyrants,'" Patrick jumped in. "We know."

Ben stepped forward to examine the page closer. "'Thomas Gates, artifex," he read aloud.

"Designer," Alex translated.

"Designer," agreed the man. "Or mastermind."

"We know what it means," Ben assured him.

"He could have planned the assassination."

"Oh, I see." Ben's words were dripping with sarcasm.

"It could mean mastermind of anything," Alex added.

"Exactly." Patrick pointed to the burned edge of the page. "See that, burned out right there." If something else had been written after artifex, it had been burned away.

"May I, Mr..." said Doctor Nichols.

"Wilkinson," the man answered.

"Mr. Wilkinson. I'll just see if this new page matches the diary." He withdrew the famed diary carefully from the display case.

"This is an outrage," cried Patrick, obviously very upset. "You're calling my grandfather a liar."

"Well with all due respect sir now you're calling my great-great-granddaddy a liar."

"Yes sir, I am!" spat back Patrick. "This isn't some garbage from a history book, my grandfather told me this story himself. I could see the truth of it in his eyes!"

"I'm sorry sir, I truly am. I can only imagine how hard this must be for you."

"Dad, calm down," said Alex, placing a supportive hand on her father's arm. Then she turned to Wilkinson. "And thank you Mr. Wilkinson, you've done enough."

"We'll test this thoroughly Patrick, to authenticate it," assured Doctor Nichols. He aligned the page from Wilkinson with one of the torn edges in the diary. Everyone held their breath. Ben and Alex exchanged a glance.

Patrick gasped. "It can't be."

The page fit perfectly, like the missing piece of a puzzle.

(No! Not Thomas! ;) haha thanks so much for reading! Bye for now!)